Applying reinforcing strip to slide fasteners



April 21, 1942. F. c. RUTHERFORD APPLYING REINFORCING STRIP TO SLIDEFASTENERS Filed March 22,- 1939 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 fnusntar 1? [717171 55715M015? 1 '7t.t. urns April 1942- F. c. RUTHERFORD 2,280,664

APPLYING REINFORCING STRIP TO SLIDE FASTENERS Filed March 22, 1939 2SheetsSheet 2 JIUUBHLUI" Patented Apr; 21 1942 APPLYING namroacmos'rarr'ro rss'ransns ENT OFFICE SLIDE Frank Campbell Rutherford, St.Catharines, On-

tario, Canada, assignor to Lightning Fastener Comp y, Limited, St.Catharines, Ontario,

Canada Application March 22, 1939, Serial No. 263,571

Claims. (Cl. 154-1) The invention relates to improvements in -methodsand means for applying reinforcing strips to slide fasteners.

The fastener having the reinforcing strip with which the invention isconcerned has been disclosed in United States Patent No. 1,964,485, toSeaver, issued June' 26,

1934. That invention consists broadly of afastener comprising a pair offlexible stringers provided with interlocking elements adapted to beinterlocked by a slider engaging the elements and a piece of tapesecured transversely across the stringer in the vicinity of the normallyclosed end which serves, when the fastener is sewn in a garment or thelike, to relieve any strain on the closed end of the fastener,particularly when the fastener is opened. v

It. is an object of the present invention to devise a novel method ofbonding the reinforcing strip to the stringers of such a fastener and toprovide a machine whereby the method may be efficiently carried out.

It is also an object to devise such a method which may be applicable forthe convenient and I rapid bonding together of any two layers of fabricscale of a detail of the machine;

Fig. 4 is a transverse sectional view, taken along the line 4, 4 of Fig.1, of a solvent tank on the machine; and

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary view showing a pair of fasteners with thereinforcing tape secured thereto as produced by my machine.

Like characters of reference designate corresponding parts in thediflerent views.

As shown in Fig. 5, the invention consists in bonding across thestringers i, l of a slide fastener, which has the customary interlockingmembers 2 and may have a bottom stop member 8 for connecting the closedend of the fastener, a continuous length ofreinforcing tape 4. The tape4 is bonded to thei-stringer 'I', I by laying one or more solublefilaments I between the tape and the fastener. stringer, wetting thestringer or the tape in the vicinity of the filaments to dissolve thefilament material, pressing the tape firmly on the stringer to cause thedissolved filament material to penetrate the material of the tapeand-stringer and maintaining the relative positions of the parts whileany excess solvent evaporates, to leave the parts firmly bondedtogether. I have found that a yarn composed of cellulose acetate makes areadily obtainable and effective soluble filament for this purpose as itmay be readily dissolved in acetone, among other solvents.

A machine for carrying out these operations may consist, as shown inFigs. 1 to 4, of a frame 6 on which is journalled a drum 1 provided withgrooves 8, each adapted to receive the elements 2 of one fastener. Ineach groove 8 is provided a stop pin 8 which serves to locate thefastener with the innermost elements 2, or bottom stop I, as the casemay be, all positioned thereagainst with the tape receiving areas of allthe fasteners in a line around the periphery of the drum. A roller Illjournalled on the frame serves to guide a continuous length of tape 4across the tape receiving portions of the fastener, when the drum isrevolved as indicated by the arrow in Fig. 1, the spacing of the rollerHi from the drum 1 being such as to firmly press the tape against eachfastener as the fastener passes under the roller. The yarn I may be ledfrom a supply spool ll through guides i2 over the tape on the roller IIIto lie between the tape and the fastener. Solvent may be supplied to theareas to be bonded by passing the tape 4 through a tank It containing asolvent, the level of which is maintained by an orthodox constant leveldevice which includes a reservoir l4 provided. with a delivery tube Itwhich terminates in the tank It at the desired level for the solvent.-Rollers l6 and I1 journalled I in the tank locate the tape 4 thereover,and by means of a roller 18 carried in a bracket it, which may beremovably located in the tank by means of a pin 20. and a threadedprojection 2I provided with a wing nut 22 received in a slot 23 in thetank, a loop of the tape may be held below the surface of the solvent.The tape may be obtained from a reel 24 carried on the frame I and maybe conveniently threaded under a rollerll and through a guide 28 to thetank.

After the tape has been pressed against the fastener by passing underthe roller iii, the tape and fastener may be maintained in thesame relative positions until any excess solvent has evaporated by means of aflexible band 21, preferably made of spring steel, secured at oneextremity to a post It in the frame and passing around the portion ofthe drum periphery in which the bonded fasteners are carried may besurrounded by a hood 32 within which is disposed a heater element 33 toaccelerate evaporation of the solvent.

As shown best in Fig. 3, a slot 3 may be provided in one end of the drumto facilitate starting of a length of tape through the machine. A knot35 may be tied in the free end of the tape to be threaded and byinserting the end of the tape laterally into the slot and. tensioningthe tape until the knot engages the inside of the drum, when the drum isrotated the tape will be fed under the roller iii and the band 21 in theproper alignment.

To operate the machine, the reinforcing tape t is pulled from the reel,passed under the roller 25, through the guide 26, over the rollers l6and H, the end is caught in the slot 34, as above described, and byrotating the drum 1 in the dire'ction of the arrow in Fig. 1, the tapeis started into the machine. The yarn is then threaded through theguides i2 and started underneath the tape on the roller it. Then onforcing a loop of the tape 4 down into the tank l3 against the roller l8by clamping the bracket I9 in position in the tank, the machine is readyfor operation. After turning the drum until the moistened portion of thetape reaches the roller iii, fasteners are laid in each groove 8 insuccession before each slot passes under the roller l0, each fastenerbeing properly located with respect to the roller ID by abutting thebottom stop or the end elements 2 thereof against a pin 9. As eachfastener passes under the roller ID the yarn 5 partially dissolves inthe solvent carried by the tape 4, and as the roller W presses the tapeagainst the fastener the yarn material is forced into the pores of thetape and the fastener. As the fastener and tape leave the roller ID theband 21 maintains the pressure until, by the time the fasteners havereached the point on the periphery of the drum at which they arereleased by the band, the excess solvent has evaporated to leave thetape firmly bonded to the fasteners. To complete the tape attachment, itis only necessary to sever the continuous tape between each pair ofadjacent fasteners.

According to my improved method of bonding fabric material together, abond may be produced very rapidly and efficiently and without any possibility of smearing the bonding material on parts of the bondedarticles on which it is not desired. For applying reinforcing tapes tofasteners, in particular, the method, using the machine disclosedtherefor, is very simple and capable of being performed repeatedly andvery rapidly so that a high output of finished articles may be obtainedfrom one machine.

While I have shown and described one embodiment which my invention mayassume in practice, it will be understood that such embodiment is merelyfor purposes of-illustration and description and that various otherforms may be devised within the scope of my invention as defined in theappended claims.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. A machine for applying to slide fasteners, which include a pair offlexible stringers each provided with a series of interlocking elementsdisposed ininterlocking relation, a transverse reinforcing tape,comprising fastener supporting means, means for supporting a length oftape transversely of the fastener, means on the fas tener supportingmeans for locating the tape receiving area of the fastener in registerwith the tape supporting means, means for guiding a soluble filamentbetween the length of tape carried by the tape supporting means and thefastener carried by the fastener supporting means, means for supplying asolvent for the filament thereto and means for relatively moving thefastener supporting means and the tape supporting means forsimultaneously feeding the filament and pressing the tape against thefastener with the filament therebetween.

2. A machine as claimed in claim 1 wherein the solvent applying meanscomprises a solvent tank, and means for guiding the tape therethroughprior to its application to the fasteners.

3. A machine'for applying to slide fasteners, which include a pair offlexible stringers each provided with a series of interlocking elementsdisposed in interlocking relation, a transverse reinforcing tape,comprising a supporting frame, a drum rotatable thereon and having aplurality of spaced apart peripheral grooves parallel to the drum axiseach adapted to receive the interlocked elements of a fastener, a stopmember in each groove for locating the fasteners with their tapereceiving areas uniformly spaced from one end of the drum, a rollerjournalled on the frame with its axis parallel to the drum axis, meansfor guiding a continuous length of reinforcing tape over the roller, thespacing of the roller from the drum being such that rotation of the drumwhen loaded with fasteners feeds the tape across the tape receivingareas of the fasteners and presses the tape firmly thereagainst as eachfastener passes the roller, means for guiding a soluble filament betweenthe tape and the fasteners as the drum is rotated, means positioned inadvance of the roller for supplying. a solvent for the filament theretoand means for maintaining the relative positions of the fasteners andFRANK CAMPBELL RUTHERFORD.

